


Not Just A Reflection

by RetroactiveCon



Series: Pieces of a Broken Mirror [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Iris West Deserves Better, Mirror Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29991408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RetroactiveCon/pseuds/RetroactiveCon
Summary: “You have a plan?” Kamilla asks hopefully. “Is it because you spent so much time with Eva? Do you know something about this place that we don’t?”Her expression is so earnest that Iris can’t tell her this is entirely hope and intuition. She has the odd, insistent feeling that if they just get to the speed lab, everything will fall into place. “Well,” she says slowly. “Kamilla, you saw what happened…David, there’s. There’s something going on. This world is getting into my head. It’s painful and maddening, but it’s like…the more I get used to it, the more I can control it.”Singh’s brow furrows and he glares at the street ahead of them as though it’s responsible for harming Iris. “And you think you can use that to help us escape?”
Relationships: Barry Allen/Iris West
Series: Pieces of a Broken Mirror [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726333
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	Not Just A Reflection

**Author's Note:**

> There is nothing in this fic except pure spite for episode 7.02. It's vastly canon-divergent, so I'm not sure it technically counts as a spoiler, but if you haven't watched the episode and dislike spoilers, this may not be the fic for you.

The mirror world is so horribly empty. Iris understands why Eva was so desperate to escape. The mirror-versions of her, twisted and bitter as they are, are at least company in this maddening world. Once she escapes them, Iris is left wandering the streets with one goal in mind: get back to STAR Labs. She and Kamilla—and Singh, if he’s capable of getting there—need to make a plan. It’s clear no one on the outside can help them, or they already would have. 

There’s no help coming. She has to think that again just to make the bleak reality of it set in. It’s up to her to rescue herself from this lonely, twisted place. 

The walk to STAR Labs reminds her of the scenes of post-apocalyptic movies that always get to her most: walking down a lifeless street that ought to be bustling. Every road she walks, she finds herself staring at the buildings for signs of life. (It would be worse if there were any. Then her curiosity would get the better of her, even knowing that whatever she would find could only be dangerous.) She takes to singing softly as she walks, just for something to fill the choking silence. 

A siren shatters the silence. Iris leaps behind a bench, heart pounding in her throat. A siren? What could possibly make that noise in this empty world?

An ambulance pulls up to the curb. In the driver’s seat—which is on the right-hand side, not the left—sits an ashen-faced David Singh. He rolls down the window and leans over. “Iris West-Allen. Of all the faces I expected to see in this awful world, yours wasn’t one. Want a ride?”

Iris clambers gratefully into the passenger seat. As she buckles her seatbelt, she asks, “How did you find me? I thought I might have to come find you.”

“I didn’t mean to.” Satisfied that she’s buckled in, Singh pulls away from the curb. The road beyond the windshield looks much less ominous from inside the ambulance, _with_ someone. “I got a message to come to STAR Labs—was that you?” When Iris nods, Singh makes a satisfied humming sound. “Anyway, I had to get creative. Getting from the hospital to STAR Labs would have been impossible on foot.”

Iris looks him over. The telltale border of a poorly applied bandage is visible under his shirt. “Did this happen before you were brought over?” she asks worriedly. 

Singh nods. “I was…” He lets out a short, harsh laugh. “It sounds crazier every time I say it. I was dragged through a mirror. I tried to fight and only managed to hurt myself. It’s healing as well as can be expected, given that I had to look after myself.”

Iris gives him another worried glance. His ashen appearance and curled posture suggest otherwise, but she doesn’t want to call him on it. (She’s been telling herself plenty of lies to keep going through the mirror world.)

“Were you hurt when you were brought over?” Singh sounds protective. Iris’s dissonant heart warms. Singh has always been fond of her—bordering on fatherly, sometimes, which she puts down to Joe’s influence. She never imagined that fondness comforting her in a place like this. 

“Physically, no,” she admits. “Right now, that’s all that matters. The rest of it can wait until we’re back in our world again.”

Singh doesn’t turn to look at her, so she only sees his dubious expression in profile. She can’t blame him for his doubt. She barely even believes herself. 

They pick up Kamilla along the way, closer to STAR Labs. She and Iris end up jammed in the passenger seat together. Neither of them can stomach the thought of riding in the back of the ambulance. 

“You have a plan?” Kamilla asks hopefully. “Is it because you spent so much time with Eva? Do you know something about this place that we don’t?” 

Her expression is so earnest that Iris can’t tell her this is entirely hope and intuition. She has the odd, insistent feeling that if they just get to the speed lab, everything will fall into place. “Well,” she says slowly. “Kamilla, you saw what happened…David, there’s. There’s something going on. This world is getting into my head. It’s painful and maddening, but it’s like…the more I get used to it, the more I can control it.”

Singh’s brow furrows and he glares at the street ahead of them as though it’s responsible for harming Iris. “And you think you can use that to help us escape?” he guesses. “I don’t mean to sound harsh—I don’t doubt you, Iris, just this world. Even if it does work, what will it do to you in the process?”

He sounds so like her father that Iris’s eyes sting with tears. She draws in a deep, shaky breath to keep herself from crying. 

“Iris, hey.” Kamilla presses closer to her. As they’re already squashed together on a seat made for one, this is less reassuring and more stifling than she intends. “It’s okay to cry. You’ve been alone in here for so long—it’s okay to cry.”

Iris swipes at her cheeks. She just has to hold it together until they’re out of this mirror dimension. Then she can seek comfort in Barry and let him seek comfort in her. “I know,” she whispers. “But I’m afraid if I start crying now, I won’t have the strength to do what has to be done when we get to the Speed Lab.”

“You don’t have to be strong on your own,” Kamilla whispers. “You have us, now. We do this together—whatever ‘this’ is.”

When they get to the Speed Lab, they see exactly what ‘this’ is. Two pillars have been erected in the middle of the room, forming a generously-sized doorway, of sorts. Iris is drawn to the pillars immediately. 

“Those weren’t there before,” Kamilla says. Like Iris, she circles the pillars as soon as she sees them. 

Singh observes at a distance, his hand braced on his wounded chest. “Did the mirror generate them?” 

Iris shakes her head. “The mirror dimension changes when things in our world change.” She doesn’t know where this information is coming from. It feels like it’s always been in her mind, waiting for her to seek it out. “Someone in STAR Labs—the real STAR Labs—brought these here. I think they’re trying to get us out.” Her voice breaks. This is it. The pillars are new; they’re like an anchor between worlds. They must be. Except…Iris doesn’t see a portal. 

“Do we just walk through?” Kamilla ventures. Even in their circling, neither she nor Iris has stepped between the pillars. It feels forbidden somehow, but Iris doesn’t think it’s because doing so will send them home. (She doesn’t want to think too hard about what it might do instead.) 

“No,” she says slowly. “I don’t think so. I think they need…activated, or something.”

“And how do we do that?” Singh steps closer. His eyes are intent on the cables leading from the pillars to a dormant computer. Then his focus wavers, and the next thing Iris knows, he drops to the floor. 

“David!” She lunges to his side. He waves her away with a shaky hand. 

“I’m all right. Just a little…a little shaky, that’s all.” Tellingly, he doesn’t push himself to his feet. Iris worries that he may not be able to walk through the pillars, if a portal ever opens.

“Look!” Kamilla’s gasp draws their eyes back to the pillars. They’ve lit up, as has the computer they’re attached to. Iris can feel the thrum of them inside her chest. They’re active, so why isn’t a portal opening?

The thrum increases. Dimly, Iris registers that she’s shaking. The portals feel like part of her—because they’re part of the mirror dimension, she realizes. And somehow, throughout these hellish weeks, she’s become connected to the mirror dimension. “I have to open the portal,” she whispers. 

“Iris?” Kamilla steps closer. Instinctively, Iris shies away. She can’t be touched right now; if she is, she feels as though she might shatter like her mirror clone. “What are you talking about?”

“Help David to his feet,” she orders. When Kamilla hesitates, she snaps, “Now. When a portal opens, I need you both to run through it. Then I…” If she’s this integrated into the mirror dimension, will she be able to step through? “I’ll follow you, but I have to go last. Don’t ask me how I know. I just do.”

“We’re not leaving without you,” Singh insists. The force in his voice is somewhat less impressive after watching the way he leans on Kamilla to stand. He couldn’t force Iris across if he tried.

“No,” Iris agrees, but her voice is hollow. She doesn’t know whether or not she can keep the portal open and cross through.

The hum of the pillars increases so much that Iris can barely think. That’s okay—that’s good, even. She can’t overthink what she needs to do. Instead, she holds her hands forward and feels the world part between the pillars. 

The edges of the mirror dimension ripple like liquid silver. Through the portal, Iris glimpses Barry, Cisco, Allegra, and Joe, all focused intently on the newly-formed portal. All of them look like they might dart through at a moment’s notice. Iris can’t allow that; she’s not sure what it would do to them.

“Kamilla!” Cisco reaches toward the portal. At the same time, Iris waves one hand. 

“Go, Kamilla! I’ll be right behind you.”

Kamilla shoots her a worried glance before hurrying for the portal. Singh leans against her with every step. His eyes never leave Iris. 

The moment Kamilla steps through the portal, Iris feels loss resonate through her. With a pulse of instinctive fear, she realizes Eva will feel it too. 

Not even a second later, the mirror dimension warps out of her control. The floor warps and bobs beneath her like a water bed; the edges of the portal start to contract. With a shout, she forces them open again. The effort aches right behind her forehead, so intense she feels like her skull will split open. The moment she wavers, this world will consume her. The portal won’t just close; she has a terrible, bone-deep feeling that she’ll be lost forever. 

“Iris!” Barry shuffles closer to the portal. His eyes are fixed on her as though he wants nothing more than to run in and scoop her up. She’s deeply, terribly grateful he doesn’t. If he tried to run her out, Eva would close the mirror dimension on both of them. “Iris, come here to me. A little at a time. I’m right here, I’ll bring you home. Just like you’ve done for me so many times.”

Iris remembers Cisco vibing her into the Speed Force so that she could bring Barry home. She remembers how they’d stretched, desperate to touch, to ground each other. Slowly, she shuffles across the rolling floor toward the portal. 

“Almost there, baby.” Barry is stretched out as far as he can get without crossing the portal. His hand is held out exactly as Iris’s once was. She grabs for it before she’s even in reach. Feeling her fingers close around air almost breaks her heart. “Just a few more steps. I’ve got you, baby. Almost there.”

The floor lurches again. Iris launches herself forward, hand outstretched. This time, her fingers brush Barry’s.

The next thing Iris knows, she’s on the floor of the Speed Lab—the _real_ Speed Lab. The team is clustered around her; Barry is kneeling at her side. His hand is in hers, warm and steady and _real._ “You brought me back,” she whispers. That’s all that matters. Nothing matters but Barry. 

He shakes his head. “You brought yourself back, Iris. I was just here at the right time.”

Things are a long way from better. Iris knows that Eva will have felt her leave the mirror; no doubt she’s mustering her strength for an attack as they speak. But right now, with her husband finally holding her hand again, she can’t spare a single thought for what might happen next.


End file.
